FIDF Live Briefing: Dr. Lucian Tatsa Laur, former Head of IDF Mental Health Dept. - May 4, 2025

FIDF Chief Executive Officer Steve Weil welcomes Dr. Lucian Tatsa-Laur,  former Head of the Mental Health Department in the Israel Defense Forces and current Head of the new Trauma Rehabilitation Center at Assuta Ashdod Public Hospital, to discuss his groundbreaking work in the field of PTSD and mental health treatment for combat soldiers. Dr. Laur described his experience on October 7th, learning about the attack while on the phone with a wife of one of his patients who was outside of the house fighting terrorists at the time. Dr. Laur explains how the trauma of October 7th erupted the IDF’s identity as a small but shrewd and near indestructible defense force, shifting their self-perception from competent to failure. Dr. Laur’s mission was to reverse this collective psychological blow, and the IDF officers, he recounts, were very welcoming and open to this type of work. So did the Israeli public, who were accustomed to wars taking place within the enemy’s borders, not within Israel’s borders. Given the collective trauma of Israel’s combat soldiers and citizenry, Dr. Laur’s research is highly sought out by the US defense department. Donate NOW at FIDF.org for the fastest and most direct way to give IDF Soldiers what they need most. 100% of your contribution will go to meet their emergency humanitarian needs.